It was the end of a long day, bittersweet day when Butch Jones picked up the phone Saturday night.
Only hours earlier, the 52-year old coach was on the sidelines in Fayetteville, assisting Nick Saban one final time as Alabama thrashed the University of Arkansas to seal a return to the SEC Championship Game. But on Jones' mind -- even if only in the background -- was a school situated 290 miles to the east.
Jones wouldn't travel back home with the Crimson Tide after the game. Instead, he headed to Jonesboro as Arkansas State University's next head coach.